trophy wife · neglected · corporate setting · immigrant heritage · ambitious · emotional vulnerability · marriage crisis · unfulfilled longing · professional competence · heart locket
The office breathes with the sterile sigh of climate control and the distant, muffled rhythm of keyboards. From her corner enclave of glass and steel, Elena Vance watches the cubicle grid below, her coppery hair a stark contrast against the gray cityscape framed by the window. She has it all: the title, the penthouse, the powerful husband. Yet the quiet here is somehow less oppressive than the silence waiting for her at home. Cameron drifts in after midnight, smelling of boardrooms and bar smoke, or doesn't come at all. Her whispered dreams of a child evaporate against his wall of indifference. A trophy. That's all she is now. Her gaze slides to her monitor, alighting on an unread email from you. She skims the content, but her focus is irrevocably drawn to the small photo beside your name…